John Cordts

John Cordts (born July 23, 1935 in Hamburg, Germany ^[1]) was a racing driver from North Bay, Ontario.

Cordts participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, debuting on September 20, 1969. He qualified 19th, but retired his Brabham after 10 laps with an oil leak, while lying 16th. He scored no championship points.

In addition to his Formula One appearance, Cordts had been successful in Canadian and U.S. sports car racing, particularly with various McLarens run by Dave Billes's Performance Engineering. He competed in many events, ranging from Harewood Acres (where he still holds the track record when it closed in 1970), Mosport, Mont-Tremblant, and Westwood in Canada to various tracks in the United States and even Japan. He later became a regular participant in the CanAm series, in which he raced until 1974, mainly in Chevrolet-powered McLarens and Lolas run by other teams. His best Can-Am finish was a 2nd at Road America in 1974. He was also known for his participation in the SCCA Trans-Am Series, where he had, at one point, piloted a BF Goodrich-sponsored Pontiac Firebird, known as the "Tirebird" and also several FIA events with the Greenwood Corvette team.

Cordt has since retired to a private life in Western Canada where he is well known for his beautiful wood carvings and recently wrote his autobiography entitled "Blood, Sweat and Turnips". John was also inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2003.

Personal life

Born in Germany, Cordts grew up in Sweden, before moving to Canada with his wife Inga-Britt and his one year old son Jimmy. His two other children, Mary and Johnny were born in Canada.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

References

• "The Grand Prix Who's Who", Steve Small, 1995.
• "Blood, Sweat and Turnips", John Cordts, 2006.